DENVER (AP) — A Colorado task force is recommending that local governments be given a consulting role on some decisions about the location of large oil and gas facilities, but the panel decided against suggesting that cities and counties be allowed to enforce their own rules.

Prosecutors in the murder trial of an ex-Marine accused of killing "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle and another man told jurors Tuesday before they began deliberations that they should disregard the insanity defense of the defendant's attorneys.

Prosecutors in the murder trial of an ex-Marine accused of killing "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle and another man told jurors Tuesday before they began deliberations that they should disregard the insanity defense of the defendant's attorneys.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska on Tuesday became the third U.S. state to legalize marijuana. But the historic day passed with little public acknowledgement in a state with a savvy marijuana culture that has seen varying degrees of legal acceptance of the drug for 40 years.

By Brendan O'Brien MADISON, Wis. (Reuters) - A Wisconsin Senate committee on Tuesday advanced a proposal to make Wisconsin the 25th right-to-work state after hours of public testimony and a rally by a couple of thousand union members opposed to the bill. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, a potential Republican candidate for president in 2016, will sign a bill if it makes it to his desk, a spokeswoman has said. Walker backed a law to limit the power of public sector unions shortly after taking office in 2011, and in 2012 he survived a recall election sought by Democrats and union members, making him a favorite of conservatives nationally. Supporters say a right-to-work law could attract businesses to Wisconsin, while opponents contend such a law would be an assault on organized labor.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — When Neha Mahajan's husband got a job transfer from New Delhi to New Jersey, she was excited to come along. But the thrill faded when the television reporter realized there was no way she could get a job in the United States because immigration rules barred her from working.

The brother of Cleveland's police chief was fatally shot in the city, and the brother's girlfriend, suspected in his death, later shot herself when troopers stopped her vehicle along a western Pennsylvania highway, authorities said Tuesday.

By Laura Zuckerman SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - A fireball spotted streaking across the night sky late on Monday in the western United States was almost certainly the body of a rocket used by China in December to launch a satellite, an astronomer said Tuesday. Residents in Rocky Mountain states such as Idaho, Utah and Montana reported seeing the rocket as it disintegrated in the atmosphere about 70 miles (113 km) above Earth, said Chris Anderson, manager of the Centennial Observatory at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls. An organization that studies orbital debris, or space junk, and attempts to pinpoint when and where objects will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere had earlier predicted that the rocket which began its descent last year after sending a Chinese satellite into orbit would likely be seen about 2 a.m. local time in northern Russia, Anderson said.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is considering a run for president in 2016, on Tuesday proposed a massive restructuring of the public employees' pension system as he unveiled a $33.8 billion state budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year.

By Courtney Sherwood PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - Oregon State Police have seized dozens of Native American artifacts, some more than 5,000 years old, that were collected illegally and likely bound for the black market, authorities said on Tuesday. Among the items seized from a house in Klamath Falls were articles used during Indian funeral ceremonies and other items of cultural significance, Oregon State Police Sergeant Randall Hand said. No human remains were discovered. A prolonged drought has dried up parts of a regional watershed in the Klamath Basin in southern Oregon and Northern California, exposing archaeological areas normally concealed by water, Hand said. Hand said members of Oregon's Klamath Tribes had helped in a seven-month investigation into the archaeological disappearances from public lands.